


abo of love

by thunderylee



Category: NewS (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bottom Alpha, Canon Universe, Discussion of Rape Culture, M/M, Mpreg, References to Knotting, beta pov, established nakamasu, kameda save the day, omega feminism, political discourse disguised as fanfic, ryopin cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:33:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21808246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: Tegoshi thought he knew everything there was to know about alphas, and then Massu decided to get pregnant.
Relationships: Kato Shigeaki/Tegoshi Yuya
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	abo of love

**Author's Note:**

> shige was on the cover of a magazine called _alpha_ with his fucking sexy long hair and i finally wrote this. abo verse isn't that popular in this fandom, so i made beta tegoshi really uneducated about it to help explain the basics for readers who are new to the genre (like when grown men don't know anything about periods). in this universe, one's status is determined by their blood type. title, of course, from 恋のabo.

No matter what Shige says, Tegoshi does _not_ have knot envy.

He’s been knotted plenty of times, of course, but he doesn’t think he’d want to have one himself. Aside from the aggressive urges, it doesn’t seem that comfortable to be stuck inside someone for so long. He could keep it out, sure, but then he wouldn’t get very deep, which defeats the entire purpose of having sex to begin with, as far as he’s concerned.

And just in case Koyama’s been running his mouth too, Tegoshi doesn’t have slick envy either, though he has to admit that being able to self-lubricate would save _so_ much effort. From what he hears, it’s not worth all of the discomfort of being in heat; pretty much every omega he’s ever met takes suppressants until they want to have children.

Tegoshi has spent the past sixteen years working closely with both alphas and omegas, so he thinks he knows a lot about them. As a beta, he’s immune to the pheromones the others constantly put off, and he’s grateful for that too. Even if it’s amusing to watch Shige try not to be affected when Koyama forgets a dose.

As the only remaining alpha of the group, Shige is the one who usually ends up tending to Koyama during an unexpected heat. Tegoshi has never met an alpha so reluctant to knot a willing omega as Shige is. Then again, Shige’s about as un-alpha-like has one can get, even if he has the required hormones. It was mildly easier when Yamapi was around to help share the member love, so to speak, even if that meant they had another omega. Ryo didn’t care about knots, and even if he did, he had four alphas in his other group who would gladly give him one.

Sometimes, Tegoshi helps. He may not have a knot, but he still has a dick. It takes longer to break a heat without a knot, but Tegoshi doesn’t mind marathon sex. If he gets tired, Koyama has plenty of toys. Besides, Koyama makes it up to him when he’s _not_ in heat, spoiling Tegoshi with affection and sex that is much less dire.

“So,” Massu announces as they wait for their meeting to start. “I’m going to have heats again. We’ve decided to start a family.”

“That’s great!” Tegoshi exclaims, followed by Koyama blubbering something incoherent because he’s thinking about babies.

Shige just pinches his brow. “I’m going to die.”

“So dramatic,” Tegoshi says. “Can’t you just take a pill or something?”

“They’ll never make one,” Shige grumbles. “We’re just supposed to endure it.”

“Is it really that bad?” Tegoshi asks, and to his surprise, it’s the two omegas who give him an incredulous look. “What?”

“Shige may be an alpha, but he’s only human,” Massu says evenly, using the voice that tells Tegoshi he’s trying really hard not to get exasperated with him. “As crippling and debilitating as heats are, at least they’re only once a month. An alpha can go into rut at any time if they smell a fertile omega.”

“Didn’t you pay attention in health class?” Koyama asks Tegoshi, sounding much more sympathetic. “Just because it has nothing to do with you doesn’t mean you don’t have to understand it. How have you been around alphas for so long and you don’t even know how ruts work?”

“Because we don’t talk about it!” Shige booms, so loudly that both Koyama and Tegoshi jump in their seats. “No respectable alpha will admit that they have any problems controlling themselves. But most of them will knot the first omega who attracts them, so the word ‘respectable’ is really subjective.”

Tegoshi peers at Shige, taking in his shallow breaths and clenched jaw. Shige’s an angry person naturally, so most of his self-control is devoted to remaining calm enough to present himself as a marketable idol. It’s no surprise that there isn’t any left to battle his hormones.

“What’s so disrespectful about that?” Tegoshi asks with a shrug. “As long as everything is consensual, it’s human nature. Kei-chan is literally right here.”

Koyama snorts. “He doesn’t want it that way.”

“Koyama!” Shige exclaims, and now his face is bright red.

Massu gets it a fraction of a second before Tegoshi does, and Tegoshi’s more amused at the slack-jawed wonder on Massu’s face than the announcement that Shige likes to take it like an omega.

“Really?” Massu asks. “Even during a rut?”

“Aren’t you an omega who prefers other omegas?” Shige snaps back. “It works the other way too, you know.”

“Only other alphas are usually too aggressive,” Koyama adds. “Shige’s instincts don’t like that very much.”

“I know plenty of docile alphas,” Tegoshi says, pulling out his phone to swipe through his booty call list. “I’ll hook you up.”

“I don’t want to fuck a stranger!” Shige practically yells, then seems to remember where he is and lowers his voice. “Since you all insist on discussing my sexual preferences at _work_ , understand that I won’t just do it with anyone. I have standards. _I_ am a respectable alpha.”

“Modest, too,” Massu scoffs.

Shige gives him a hefty side eye, then returns his attention to Tegoshi. “To answer your question, yes, it really is that bad. I hate myself for being so out of control of my own body, and no matter how much I may want it, I’ll hate myself even more if I go through with it.”

“If I did that, I’d be severely depressed,” Koyama says with a sad smile, leaning over to pat Shige on his tensed shoulder. “That’s how most omegas feel when they go into heat and they’re not mated.”

Shige frowns. “I know, I’m sorry for making it about me. It’s just frustrating because humanity has evolved _so much_ since the days of the wolf packs and yet we’re still victims to our pheromones.”

“Not all of us,” Tegoshi points out, grinning brightly when he gets three identical glares. “And for the record, Shige, I have a knot ring.”

A spectacular display of coughing erupts from Shige’s lungs as he chokes on absolutely nothing, concerning Koyama enough to pound on his back. “Why would I need to note that?!”

Tegoshi shrugs. “I’d give it to you, if you wanted. Your longer hair is fucking hot. I could totally get into it.”

Shige blinks more quickly than is really necessary while Koyama reaches up to play with the hair in question.

“I just haven’t gotten around to getting it cut yet!” Shige finally explodes.

“Don’t,” Koyama purrs in this voice that Tegoshi’s only heard late at night. “It looks _so_ good on you.”

“Help,” Shige says to Massu, who makes an X over his face. “This is your fault, Takahisa. Take responsibility.”

“I’ll get pregnant as fast as I can,” Massu says seriously, and Shige groans.

*

Something Tegoshi never wanted to know about Massu is how high-strung he gets when he’s off his suppressants. Massu’s a bitch normally, but without the subdued hormones he freaks out much more than usual, cleaning _everything_ and snapping at Tegoshi for breathing the wrong way.

He still smiles brightly in all of their photoshoots and promotional appearances, the pretty little liar.

If Tegoshi was going to complain about anything regarding the way he was born, it would be that betas get the brunt of both alphas and omega problems. Not only are betas discarded as potential mates by so many who still practice the traditional method of courting, they also have to put up with the other two statuses being guided by their hormones at any given time.

At the end of the day, they’re all human, but all too often it feels like alphas and omegas live in a different world of mating scents and primal attraction that Tegoshi will never understand. Movies and books are usually focused on alpha/omega relationships, and even the pop song lyrics to an extent. Betas are often cast aside as comic relief characters or problematic villains, not the protagonist or even in a relationship at all.

The most common myth about betas is that they’re asexual, and Tegoshi is living proof debunking that one. He is very sexual, with pretty much anyone who attracts him. He’s been with alphas, omegas, other betas, alpha-beta hybrids, men, women, transgender, nonbinary—if they’re human, he’s fucked them. Or they fucked him, if they so desired. It doesn’t matter to him where everything goes as long as everyone gets an orgasm out of it.

That’s not to say he sleeps around, at least not anymore. There was a while there where his doctor made him get quarterly STI testing, but that’s died down as he’s gotten older. Now that he's in his 30s, most people his age are looking to settle down and start a family, and while he’s most definitely not at that point yet, he doesn’t have much in common with the younger crowd either. Not to mention all of the lectures about “age-appropriate courting” he gets on the daily, mostly from Shige.

 _Shige_. In all of Tegoshi’s promiscuity, he’s never done more than drunken kissing with that one. Shige was the epitome of toxic alphaness until he was the only one left in the group, when he no longer had to prove anything to anyone and he mostly kept to himself—neither of which was that appealing to Tegoshi.

Still, he can’t deny there’s _something_ connecting him to Shige, much more than their shared age and having spent half of their lives in the same boyband. He’s the only alpha Tegoshi knows who willingly expresses his feelings and openly cries when he’s moved. He’s spoken out against discrimination in all of its forms and calls it out whenever he sees it, using his alpha privilege to stand up for the less fortunate. He’s done a total 180 from having a superiority complex to humbling himself to those whom he previously saw as inferior.

“You should see how you’re looking at Shige,” Koyama stage-whispers from next to him; thankfully, Shige is wearing headphones as he types obliviously on his laptop. “Is it just his hair?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Tegoshi says honestly. “Has he always been so...cool?”

Massu’s body wash infiltrates Tegoshi’s senses as Koyama squeezes his shoulders in a tight hug. “I think he would be happy to know that you felt that way.”

Tegoshi frowns. “I don’t understand why wanting to bottom is so shameful. I don’t mind doing it, and I certainly don’t think less of those who do it for me. It’s an honor to be allowed inside another person, and it feels good too. I don’t see a downside to one way or the other.”

“Because you don’t become overcome with selfish need,” Koyama says, and Tegoshi frowns even harder at getting another biology lecture until Koyama goes on. “What happens to us is natural, yes, but that nature comes from an era where our entire purpose was to procreate. Aggressive alphas protected and submissive omegas nurtured. Things are different now and neither status is too happy about being reduced to those roles whenever the air blows the wrong way.”

“Please spare me the history lesson,” Tegoshi mutters, shrugging Koyama off of him. Massu’s body wash is not what he wants to smell right now. “I am well aware that status roles are a problem for everyone. What I don’t know is why Shige would hate himself for _defying_ his as a bottom alpha.”

Koyama sighs. “It’s not about position, Tego. He doesn’t want to be that out of control of himself—none of us do. How often do you hear about omegas getting raped because they went into heat and couldn’t say no? We used to think that was just how it was, but now we know better. Consent is important for alphas too, but none of them are going to come forward and say they didn’t want to knot someone.”

“Is it like being drunk?” Tegoshi asks, struggling to make some sense out of this in his hormone-free mind. “When you’re in heat and Shige’s in rut, is it like you’re too intoxicated to know what you’re doing?”

“Not exactly, but it’s a similar concept.” Koyama looks as frustrated as Tegoshi does about not getting his point across. “We have our own minds and know what we do and don’t want, but our bodies seem to have minds of their own too. Think of the horniest you’ve ever been in your life, multiply it by a thousand, ignited every time you smell a particular scent, no matter where you are.”

“I’d probably just go to you,” Tegoshi says, and Koyama laughs. “Why don’t you take care of Shige when he gets like this? It’s not like you won’t give it to him.”

“He doesn’t want me,” Koyama answers. “It hurts to hear, but I get it. When your sexual desire is purely based on pheromones, it’s difficult to be with someone whose scent doesn’t attract you. He stopped breaking my heats a few years ago, but I’ve been better about taking my suppressants too.”

“You should just get the shot,” Tegoshi tells him, rolling his eyes at Koyama’s cringe. “It’s _one needle_ every _three months_. Much easier than remembering a pill every day.”

“Nope, nope, nope.” Koyama shakes his head like an obstinate child and Tegoshi gives up. “Shige doesn’t even get a pill. Like he said, he has to endure it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he plugs his nose for the duration of Massu’s pregnancy. Whenever that begins.”

They both stare at Massu for so long that the other omega notices and pulls out his earbuds. “What?”

“You knocked up yet?” Tegoshi asks, swaying from Koyama’s half-hearted punch at his choice of words.

“No,” Massu replies, sounding put out about it. “I’ve had _two_ heats already and nothing. We even do it outside of them just in case. I never thought of sex as a chore until recently.”

“Is it more difficult to conceive because you’re both omegas?” Tegoshi asks curiously.

“The only difference is that Yuichi doesn’t have a knot,” Massu snaps, then takes a deep breath. “The whole knots ensuring pregnancy thing is a myth anyway. Those little guys are gonna go where they’re supposed to go whether they’re plugged in or not.”

Shige makes a disgusted face at the analogy, showing that he’s been listening the entire time, but Tegoshi decides not to call him on it.

“Do you think it might be you?” Koyama asks gently, and now Tegoshi is the one elbowing him. “You _have_ been a little stressed lately, Massu. Your body may not think it’s safe to grow a baby right now.”

“I am not stressed!” Massu declares loudly, making all three of them jump. “I’m still adjusting to being off my suppressants. Honestly, I don’t know how Koyama forgets his so much and still functions the same.”

“I’m stress-free,” Koyama tells him, cowering under the glare from both Massu and Shige. “Sorry?”

Massu covers his face with his hands. “It’s not you. I’m not used to my hormones being all over the place. I’ve been on suppressants since I was a teenager. And I think my heat is coming early.”

“I’ll call Nakamaru-kun,” Koyama volunteers as he fumbles for his phone.

“I’ll take you home,” Tegoshi offers, reaching for both of their coats.

“I’ll help you to the car,” Shige says, surprising them all by hoisting Massu out of his seat with both arms. “Then I’m going far, far away.”

“Thanks, guys,” Massu says weakly, and Tegoshi notices the layer of moisture on his face, the sweat he’s managed to break into despite sitting in a chair nonmoving.

It’s no different than when he exerts himself during a concert or particularly vigorous rehearsal, Tegoshi thinks as he drives Massu to the small suburban house that he shares with his mate. Logically, Tegoshi knows that Massu is really turned on right now, but if he didn’t already know that, he would just think that Massu was exhausted or didn’t feel well.

“What do you smell like?” Tegoshi asks, earning another glare from the heaving omega in his passenger seat. “When you get like this, you produce a scent, right? That’s why Shige can’t be around you for too long. What is it? Mango and pork buns?”

That has Massu snorting out a laugh. “It’s not really anything specific, just sweet and floral. Some omegas can attribute their scents to concrete things, like fruit or a particular flower, but Yuichi hasn’t pinpointed anything yet. However, it is definitely not food.”

“Too bad,” Tegoshi says. “I always figured Nakamaru-kun smells like gyoza and that’s why you’re attracted to him.”

“I don’t know what his omega scent is,” Massu tells him. “I’ve never seen him in heat. We were just like you until I stopped taking my suppressants a few months ago. We’re attracted to each other by forces other than hormones. How it _should_ be.”

Tegoshi thinks there’s further conversation to be had here, but he’s already pulling up Massu and Nakamaru’s driveway. Nakamaru’s waiting in the front yard, big-eyed with concern, and Tegoshi barely has the car in park before Nakamaru flails to the passenger side and pulls Massu into his arms.

“Thanks for bringing him here,” Nakamaru says to Tegoshi, who starts to shake his head dismissively until Nakamaru goes on. “You’re the safest person he can be with right now.”

“What about Kei-chan?” Tegoshi asks, frowning at their leader being overlooked. “He’s an omega too.”

“Right, and we’re not gonna get out of anything if we’re overpowered by an alpha like this,” Nakamaru says firmly. “You would at least have the chance of diffusing the air before something bad happened.”

Tegoshi starts to frown, then sees Massu throw his arms around Nakamaru and try to mount him right there in the front yard. “Better tend to him.”

“On it,” Nakamaru says with a laugh, his nose turning red as he drags his obliviously humping mate into the house.

*

The next time Tegoshi’s at the jimusho, he’s still unnerved by Nakamaru’s words and marches right into KAT-TUN’s meeting room to get more clarification.

Not from Nakamaru. From Kamenashi and Ueda.

“It’s hard for us to understand, because we don’t sense it ourselves,” Kame explains to him. “I used to think that Jin was just exaggerating until I saw him get harassed with my own eyes. There were three of us betas back then and that was the only reason it didn’t go any further.”

“Alphas usually think I’m one of them until they sniff me out and don’t get anything,” Ueda adds. “It’s kind of flattering.”

“I’m worried,” Tegoshi confesses. “Now that Massu’s having heats again, he’s at risk. I don’t want him to get hurt. Nakamaru-kun can’t protect him as another omega. He said so himself.”

Kame nods. “Whenever I think that I don’t belong in this world, I remember how many times I’ve protected omegas just by being in the same room and feel much better about my place here.”

“Are you just realizing this now?” Ueda asks knowingly, not to Kame but to Tegoshi. “You’re over thirty years old. Surely you’ve noticed the power imbalance between alphas and omegas before now?”

“I guess I haven’t really thought about it,” Tegoshi says. “It’s just been the four of us for so long, and all of the omegas I know are on suppressants—until now, anyway.”

Ueda snorts. “Suppressants don’t stop harassment, Tegoshi. An unmated omega is a target whether they’re in heat or not. It’s just the ones in heat who are incapable of fighting back.”

“Massu is mated,” Tegoshi points out.

“To another omega,” Ueda shoots back. “Alphas don’t recognize that as a threat.”

“That’s not right,” Tegoshi grumbles. “I don’t like the idea of anyone being taken advantage of like that. We’re all human, right? Why do people think they have a right to someone else’s body just because of their status?”

“That’s the age old question, my friend,” Ueda replies. “How’s Kato taking all of this?”

“Well enough,” Tegoshi answers, ignoring the twitch he gets when he thinks about Shige. “A few outbursts about how his life is so hard with a fertile omega around, but other than that he’s been working like usual.”

“I actually feel sorry for him,” Kame speaks up. “He was never very good at the alpha power trip. He seems to have grown up decently, but this wouldn’t be easy for even the most strong-willed alpha. Stay close to him, okay? It’s your job as the group beta to protect him too, even if it’s just from himself.”

Tegoshi nods as he thinks about what that means. “Thanks for talking to me about this. I honestly didn’t know betas played such a large part in restoring the balance of the world. I’ll do what I can to protect all of my precious members from now on.”

Ueda pets his head and Tegoshi flits off for his own meeting room, already occupied.

He immediately sits on Shige’s lap.

Koyama unsuccessfully hides a laugh while Massu doesn’t pay them any mind, and for a few very long seconds, there is no reaction from the person beneath him.

“Can I help you?” Shige finally asks, his voice too close and way too deep.

“I’m the one who is helping you,” Tegoshi declares proudly, leaning back to settle comfortably against Shige’s chest. He smells nice, clean from the shower with a hint of cologne, and Tegoshi wonders for the first time what his alpha scent is. Probably something that's not nearly as enticing as this.

Then Shige takes a breath deep enough to move Tegoshi back and forth from the force, and Tegoshi knows he’s won when he feels Shige visibly relax against him.

“Isn’t it better to sit on Massu?” Shige asks. “He’s the one who’s putting off knot-me vibes to the whole building.”

“Please don’t sit on me,” Massu calls out from behind his fashion mood board.

“I don’t want to sit on Massu,” Tegoshi tells Shige, who hrumphs and makes no effort to relocate either one of them. “He doesn’t need me. _You_ need me. I make it better, right? Let me make it better.”

Shige exhales like he wants to argue back, then surprises Tegoshi by slinging an arm around his waist. Tegoshi looks down at it like he doesn’t know what to do with it, which has Koyama laughing even harder, and inevitably Tegoshi just gives up and snuggles back. It really does feel nice, and nobody looks twice at Tegoshi sitting on a fellow member through a day’s worth of meetings.

“You don’t have to sit _on_ me, you know,” Shige tells them when they’re packing up to go home. “It’s enough to just sit between us.”

“Don’t cuddle me for six hours and then cut me off,” Tegoshi teases him, grinning at the conflicted face Shige makes. “See you tomorrow.”

He may not know what it’s like to be in heat or rut, but he definitely knows what it’s like to be sexually frustrated and unsatisfied, and Shige with his stupid sexy long hair is unapologetically what he sees behind his eyes as he fists himself off in the shower before bed.

That doesn’t do anything to quench the urge to have Shige’s arm around him as he sleeps, though.

*

It takes four months for Massu to finally get pregnant, and Tegoshi thinks the worst is over.

He is very, very wrong.

“Omegas give off a different kind of scent during gestation,” Koyama explains when Shige really does start plugging his nose when they all work together. “Since Massu’s not claimed by an alpha, his pheromones are basically putting out an SOS for one. The only reason he can still work right now is because you’re here.”

“Don’t say ‘claimed’ like it’s the 1400s,” Massu chastises him, and Koyama bows his head in apology.

“I have never felt so important as a beta before,” Tegoshi says, and Massu rolls his eyes.

“Shige marks him when he can,” Koyama goes on, “but that only works to repel _other_ alphas. Shige’s still affected himself. Hence the nose plugs.”

“How exactly does Shige ‘mark’ him?” Tegoshi asks curiously, waggling his eyebrows in a way that has Shige shaking his head in exasperation.

“It’s like a transfer of scent, I can’t really explain it.” Koyama looks around as he tries to put his words together. “Like how a male cat sprays on things to mark his territory.”

“Oh my god, I do not _spray_ anything anywhere,” Shige says, his voice coming out more nasal because of the plugs, which has both Koyama and Tegoshi snickering. “He just wears something of mine and that’s usually enough to keep the heathens away.”

“I don’t really go anywhere but work, where there are always betas around,” Massu adds. “Besides, Shige and I don’t really share the same style.”

“If you ever want to go somewhere else and not look like a nerd, I would escort you,” Tegoshi offers.

“Thanks, but you’re not the only beta I know.” Massu flashes a facetious grin and Tegoshi sticks out his tongue like the adult he is. “Looks like I’m going to have an entourage for the next nine months.”

“Honestly, it’s bullshit that you have to take so many precautions,” Shige says, and this time nobody laughs at his voice. “If I can prevent myself from jumping you, other alphas can too.”

“Do you even want to jump him?” Tegoshi asks, looking back and forth between Massu and Shige. “You two have like no chemistry.”

This time, Shige’s the one who laughs. “It doesn’t care about chemistry. It only cares about omega pheromones and getting off.”

“Are you talking about your knot in the third person?” Koyama asks amusedly.

“ _No_ ,” Shige hisses. “The alpha hormones. It’s easier if I speak of them like they’re not a part of me. My therapist says it’s like separating the problem from my identity.”

“You see a therapist?” Massu asks, sounding mildly interested.

“I have to,” Shige replies. “This whole ordeal has really taken a toll on me psychologically. Not just with you. It’s been years now. It’s not healthy to resent the way I was born so strongly. I’ve made peace with it, mostly, but only when I can continue to keep it under control.”

Tegoshi pointedly places himself between Massu and Shige. “If there’s anything I can do other than exist here, please let me know.”

“I will,” Shige says seriously, and Tegoshi sees how far they’ve come when Shige doesn’t instantly get sarcastic with him.

“Actually,” Massu begins, and Tegoshi’s so surprised that he whips his neck around to look at the most unlikely person asking for his help. “My back is killing me.”

Tegoshi shoves at him. “Let Kei-chan do that!”

“He doesn’t go hard enough,” Massu whines, then scoffs at Tegoshi’s big grin. “Shut up!”

“I’ll do it,” Shige offers, gracefully standing up from his seat to walk behind Massu and dig his fingers into Massu’s shoulders. “At least I can do _something_ for you besides keeping my distance.”

Tegoshi watches Massu’s eyes roll back into his head and grins harder. “Shige goes hard enough, huh?”

“Yeah, he does,” Koyama chimes in from across the room, and Tegoshi raises his hand for a long-distance fist pound.

“You know you look like idiots when you do that, right?” Shige says in his nasal voice.

Then Shige moves down to Massu’s shoulder blades and Massu lets out a moan that has Tegoshi’s nerves on edge. Shige cringes but he keeps going, hanging his head as he really gets into it, until he’s pushing Massu forward from the force of his massage.

“Shige, stop,” Koyama calls out suddenly, his folding chair scattering across the floor as he flies out of it. “Tegoshi, get between them _now_.”

Tegoshi moves on instinct, more from Koyama’s stern voice than anything else. Shige’s arm is rock solid, so Tegoshi squats underneath it and pops up right in front of Shige’s lowered head, the mass of wild black hair falling down all around him as he sways with the continued movements.

“Shige, I can smell you,” Koyama continues, now clamped around Shige’s waist to pull him back with what looks like all of his upper arm strength. “Take out the nose plugs and breathe in Tegoshi. Do it now.”

Tegoshi doesn’t expect Shige to follow directions, being as he hasn’t moved this whole time, but he does exactly what Koyama says and Tegoshi finds himself with Shige’s face in his neck, both arms wrapped around him tightly like he’s Shige’s life force. Right now, he probably is.

Another chair scrapes against the ground as Massu stands up, sputtering apologies and other frantic words that fade into the distance as Shige clings to Tegoshi. Tegoshi can feel Shige breathing in and out against his neck, quick and shallow, and Tegoshi loops his arms around Shige’s shoulders and breathes deeply to help encourage Shige’s breaths to even out.

“I’m going to take Massu to KAT-TUN’s room,” Koyama calls out, and Tegoshi just nods. “Stay with Shige.”

Even if Koyama hadn’t told him to, he would have. He knows that Shige is going through something right now, the complexity of which Tegoshi may never understand, but the fact that _he_ is the one Shige needs right now is enough to make him feel on top of the world.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, at least on Tegoshi’s part, Shige finally exhales and pulls back only enough to press his forehead against Tegoshi’s shoulder.

He’s crying.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Tegoshi whispers in what he hopes is a soothing voice, lowering his hands to squeeze Shige’s back muscles in the most comforting motion he can think of while standing. “You didn’t do anything bad. It’s okay.”

“Only because you were here,” Shige grumbles. “I’m so fucking embarrassed right now.”

“That wasn’t you,” Tegoshi tells him. “It’s the hormones, remember? They’re not a part of you.”

“It sure feels like a part of me when I’m using all of my willpower not to rut on you,” Shige hisses.

“I would let you, but I don’t think you’d enjoy it as much as I’d like you to,” Tegoshi replies, the honesty flowing out of him along with his compassion. “Just breathe me in, okay? You did well to endure it as long as you did. Was it the moan that pushed you over the edge? Because even I thought that was hot.”

“That and he was getting turned on,” Shige answers, the shaking in his arms starting to subside. “Since I was touching him, I could feel it even though I couldn’t smell it. If I hadn’t been plugging my nose, who knows what could have happened.”

“Touch _me_ now,” Tegoshi tells him, and Shige digs his fingers into Tegoshi’s lower back. “Wow, you really are good at this.”

“I’m sorry, I honestly thought I could handle it,” Shige sobs into his shoulder. "I hate that I can't do anything for him other than stay away. He's my _friend_. I can't even be there for my friend when he needs me because of our stupid biology."

Tegoshi wants to tell him it’ll be okay again, but he decides to let Shige cry it out instead. They stand there holding each other for who knows how long, probably well into the next meeting that Koyama clearly postponed and possibly caution-taped the room off limits—if Shige’s scent wasn’t warding them away to begin with.

“What do you smell like?” Tegoshi asks. “Your alpha scent, what is it?”

“Black licorice and cedar,” Shige answers. “At least that’s what Koyama says.”

“Massu says that omegas don’t really smell like anything particular, just sweet and floral,” Tegoshi relays.

“Probably because only Nakamaru has been smelling him up until now,” Shige points out. “Massu smells like honeysuckle with a hint of citrus.”

“Ah, that sounds nice.”

“It is when you’re not incapacitated by it.”

It’s Tegoshi who breaks contact first, pushing Shige back enough to lean their foreheads together. “What do I smell like?”

Shige exhales slowly, finally relaxed. “Freedom.”

*

Tegoshi’s spending a rare evening at home with Emma when there’s a knock at his door. He didn’t order anything, though the possibility of what he _could_ have ordered almost knocks him over when he sees Shige standing on his doorstep, soaking wet.

Emma’s bouncing at his feet, excited for another human who isn’t Tegoshi to spoil her, and Tegoshi urges Shige inside before she can get out.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” he states the obvious.

“I saw your car here, so I figured your soccer game got rained out,” Shige explains.

“Stalking me now?” Tegoshi teases, and Shige gives him a side eye. “Are the roads unsafe or something?”

“No, the storm's not that bad,” Shige answers. “I just wanted to talk to you about something, and every time I tried to put together a text, it didn’t come out right.”

Tegoshi pauses in his retreat to the kitchen to make tea for his unexpected guest. “Thanks for not calling, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t know what to say on the phone either,” Shige tells him. “I still don’t, but I figure if I’m at least _looking_ at you, the right words will come.”

“Is this about Massu-mama?” Tegoshi prompts. “Did you decide you want to work out your alpha aggression with me?”

Shige snorts. “It’s not like that. I refuse to have you think of me that way. If we’re going to do this, I want you to know how I am when I’m not in rut. I won’t be reduced to my hormones, even for you.”

Fuck proper host etiquette. Tegoshi abandons the tea to walk right up to Shige and stare him dead in his eyes. “ _What are you saying_?” he emphasizes slowly.

“I’m not handling this well, Yuuya,” Shige says, his usual hard-coated exterior shedding with a dejected sigh. “I’m not gonna make it much longer without breaking. I already almost did once. I want Massu to keep working, but it’s seriously getting unbearable—and I can bear a _lot_.”

“What do you need me to do?” Tegoshi asks gently.

“For right now, hear me out,” Shige says, and Tegoshi nods. “According to my therapist, it’s a huge breakthrough that I feel so good when I breathe you in. My entire life, I’ve been plagued by unwanted scents from both omegas and other alphas. I’ve wanted nothing else than to cut off my nose at least once a day since I was thirteen years old. That day you calmed me down at the jimusho was the first time I've felt like I can breathe clearly.”

Tegoshi blinks. He’s pretty sure he smells like _something_ on a regular basis, even if it’s just shampoo and body wash, but he’s not about to argue when this is the realest Shige’s ever been with him.

“The truth is, even after my hormonal spike had subsided, I wanted to be close to you,” Shige confesses. “I didn’t have any biological excuse for it, because you don’t put off any pheromones to attract me. Yet you are, and it’s the most pleasant feeling I have ever had.”

“Have you been with a beta before?” Tegoshi asks curiously.

“I tried,” Shige answers. “They didn’t do anything for me.”

Tegoshi grins. “And I do?”

“Don’t get cocky,” Shige snaps, and Tegoshi bites his lip. “But yes, you do. So, I want to take you up on your offer for when I’m especially miserable around Massu, but I _need_ to be with you before it gets to that point. I want to enjoy it before I depend on it, if that makes sense.”

“That’s the first thing you’ve said that _does_ make sense,” Tegoshi tells him. “I want you to enjoy it too, so I’m on board.”

“Okay, so.” Shige sucks his lips into his mouth, his eyes darting around the room as he determines what to say next, and it’s seriously adorable. “I think my wet clothes are sticking to my body.”

“Ah! I’ll get you a towel,” Tegoshi rushes to offer. “Did you want to take a shower, or—?”

He’s cut off by a firm grip on his arm, halting him as he turns toward the linen closet. “I think you should take them off,” Shige says clearly.

 _Oh_. Tegoshi smirks as he faces Shige completely, playing with the hem of Shige’s T-shirt. “I can do that.”

Shige grunts as Tegoshi slides the wet fabric up Shige’s chest, pulling it over his head when Shige helpfully lifts up his arms. It’s summertime now, yet Shige shivers under Tegoshi’s touch, which just has Tegoshi trailing his fingers along the dips of Shige’s abdomen to feel more of it.

He leans forward to taste the skin for himself, pulling a beautiful whine from the alpha who’s melting into the arms that embrace him. Tegoshi’s lips drag along Shige’s collarbone and up to his throat, which stretches as Shige tilts his head back in a blatant plea for more.

Tegoshi’s hands find the waistband of Shige’s jeans and it takes more effort than he would like to push them down, the denim practically molded to Shige’s legs like a second skin. He manages, leaving Shige in only boxer-briefs while Tegoshi himself is still fully dressed, but Tegoshi’s only focus is on the curls that have formed in Shige’s wet hair.

“It’s getting long again,” Tegoshi says as he reaches out to tug on it; Shige jerks. “I was so sad when you cut it.”

“It was getting hot,” Shige huffs, though his protest is short-lived as Tegoshi’s fingers thread more deeply into his hair. “I like the way this feels, though.”

“Can I kiss you?” Tegoshi asks, and Shige’s already closing his eyes as he nods.

His lips feel just as nice as they did all of those drunken nights, soft with a tingle that shoots down to Tegoshi’s toes as they move together. Shige reaches for him gently but firmly, wrapping his arms around Tegoshi to keep him right where he is, not that he would go anywhere else.

Shige’s back is cold to the touch and the two brain cells that aren’t entirely focused on kissing Shige realize that the aircon is on. Tegoshi presses closer, determined to warm Shige up with his own body heat, and he doesn’t realize how hard he’s twisting his fingers into Shige’s hair until Shige abruptly deepens their kiss, grinding Tegoshi into the nearest wall.

“ _Fuck_ , you don’t know what that does to me,” Shige growls, tearing his mouth away long enough to speak, and it takes a second for Tegoshi to regain active control of his tongue.

“Did I wake the alpha?” he teases.

“This is all me,” Shige says, a promise in his voice that has Tegoshi shuddering from more than just Shige’s cold, wet skin. “Take me to bed, Yuuya.”

“Gladly.”

Tegoshi blindly navigates the pair of them the rest of the way down the hallway, returning to Shige’s mouth the instant the backs of his knees hit the mattress. Now that he doesn’t have to hold himself up anymore, his hands can roam more freely, drinking down the appreciative noises he gets when he brushes a pebbled nipple or rubs the extra bump hardening between them.

“I hope you don’t have your heart set on getting that,” Shige rushes out between kisses, doing quite a bit of his own exploring. “I really want you inside me.”

Hearing those words from this person has Tegoshi’s skin buzzing, further vibrated by the pleasant hum that he presses into Shige’s neck when strong fingers wrap around his own cock. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely give you what you came here for. I just want to touch it. I don’t get to play with knots very often. Does it feel good?”

“Yeah,” Shige breathes, his hips snapping when Tegoshi gives it a little squeeze. “It would feel better if you were inside me.”

“Okay, okay,” Tegoshi says with a laugh, reluctantly pulling his hand away to reach over to his nightstand. “Do you want to ride me?”

“No,” Shige replies bluntly. “I want you behind me.”

Tegoshi’s next hum is lower, dirtier. “Okay.”

He slips out from beneath Shige, switching their places like planned choreography and losing his clothes somewhere along the way. Shige’s skin is warm now, though it still shudders under Tegoshi’s touch, especially as he gets closer to the twitchy ring of muscle that has Shige gasping and pushing back against nothing.

“Wow, you really do like this,” Tegoshi comments, and Shige hrumphs. “Do you want me to wear the knot ring?”

A few drops of water fling from side to side from the force of Shige’s head shake. “I don’t need that. I want to feel you as you are, naturally.”

It’s probably the nicest thing everyone has ever said to Tegoshi during sex. Tegoshi feels something warm spread throughout him that he can’t entirely contribute to sexual desire, draping himself over Shige’s back to press as close as possible as he slowly swirls in the first finger.

Shige hasn’t done this in a very long time, Tegoshi can tell, but his body seems eager to reacquaint itself with the intrusion. Tegoshi gets in a second finger and moans at the way Shige clenches around them, moving them back and forth to stretch him enough for a third. All the while he’s navigating under Shige’s mass of black hair, mouthing whatever skin he can reach with his other arm looped around Shige’s chest to press as close as possible—for now.

“Does it feel good?” Tegoshi whispers, and Shige makes a noise that has Tegoshi thrusting against Shige’s backside. “Mm, I want you.”

“Soon,” Shige says, struggling to push himself up on his elbows as his body rocks from Tegoshi’s fingers. “One more.”

“I know,” Tegoshi says haughtily, only a little insulted that Shige thought he would take him before he was ready, but he finds a spot that has Shige moaning out loud before he can voice it. “Right there?” he asks instead.

“Yeah,” Shige gasps, his body cosigning as it rocks back hard enough to fuck itself on Tegoshi’s fingers. “ _Yuuya_.”

“Damn, Shige,” Tegoshi says as he gets the third finger in without breaking his stride. “If I had known you’d be this responsive, I’d have done this ages ago.”

“Certainly would have saved me a lot of stress,” Shige replies, reaching back to grasp Tegoshi’s free hand with his own. It’s a strangely intimate gesture at such an intense moment, the gap cementing Tegoshi’s feelings even more, at least until Shige calls out, “Do it now, Yuuya. Fuck me.”

He doesn’t have to tell Tegoshi twice. Swiftly, Tegoshi pulls out his fingers and replaces them with his cock, easing himself in slowly to appreciate every single centimeter of his length being encased inside Shige’s tight body. Beneath him, Shige starts to tense, then Tegoshi squeezes their laced fingers and Shige relaxes enough to let Tegoshi all the way in.

Once he bottoms out, Tegoshi is the one who needs a minute before he can move, but Shige’s not rushing him. He’s already trembling from whatever he’s feeling with Tegoshi inside him, content with the extra time to adjust before things get fast and deep. Tegoshi takes the opportunity to latch his mouth onto Shige’s neck, finding a good spot right behind his ear, and Shige lets out a low moan that has Tegoshi’s hips moving on their own.

“Is it good?” Tegoshi whispers, pressing the words into Shige’s skin, and Shige makes a noise that has Tegoshi thrusting harder. “If I get too rough, let me know. I don’t know my own strength sometimes.”

“I look forward to it,” Shige gets out.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Tegoshi gasps, squeezing Shige’s hand to release his own tension as the other one slides around Shige’s waist. He’s not really thinking about what he’s doing, led by instinct that has him rocking in and out as fast as he dares.

Which means he doesn’t realize that he has returned to Shige’s knot until he feels Shige’s whimpers through his skin. It starts to swell in his hand, Shige’s body following suit by pushing back to meet Tegoshi thrust for thrust, and Tegoshi moans as it becomes increasingly more difficult to squeeze the hardening flesh.

“You really like touching that,” Shige points out, somehow managing to be facetious in the middle of sex, and Tegoshi just laughs because it’s true. “Are you sure you don’t have knot envy?”

“I don’t want to have one of my own,” Tegoshi replies. “I just want to play with yours.”

“Do it like this,” Shige says, shoving one of his own hands down to cover Tegoshi’s and splay his fingers to cover as much of the knot as he can. Then he _clamps_ their hands closed, squeezing the expanding ring so tightly that his entire body jolts, and Tegoshi feels an increased resistance where he’s balls-deep inside of him.

He’s about to ask if he’s squeezing too tightly, but then Shige lets out this deep groan that leaves no doubt in Tegoshi’s mind that it’s perfect. Tegoshi’s hands are already pretty strong from playing video games for so many years, but this is a test of his grip strength for sure.

“This really feels good?” Tegoshi asks. “Is it like you’re knotting someone while I fuck you?”

“That’s exactly what it’s like,” Shige answers, his voice all breath.

Tegoshi must be doing it right, because Shige abandons his demonstration and uses his one arm to hold himself up enough to keep from smothering his face in Tegoshi’s pillow.

“It’s not like you couldn’t do that for real,” Tegoshi points out. “Kei-chan would let you for sure. We’d gladly put you between us.”

“I don’t want to think about him right now,” Shige says firmly, and Tegoshi makes a soft noise of acknowledgment as he returns to kissing Shige’s neck. He feels Shige tremble beneath him from all of the places Tegoshi is touching him and revels in how good it makes him feel, how phenomenal of a lover he must be to please an alpha so well.

“Aim down a little bit,” Shige calls out, and reality pops Tegoshi’s egotistical bubble because maybe he’s just good at following directions. “ _Ah_ , I’m so close, Yuuya. I’m gonna come the minute you touch me.”

“I am touching you,” Tegoshi says brattily, grinning when Shige makes a frustrated noise. “Are you gonna show me how to do that too?”

“I think you can figure it out,” Shige mutters. “That part isn’t any different.”

Tegoshi tears his hand away from Shige’s knot long enough to curl higher up around his cock, giving him a few good strokes before pulling back. It’s enough to have Shige heaving the biggest whine, pushing back even harder in retaliation, which Tegoshi’s body takes as a challenge and ups its speed.

“I don’t want this to end yet,” Tegoshi admits, his true feelings coming out the closer he gets to release. “It feels so good.”

“ _Yuuya_ ,” Shige moans, and Tegoshi’s hand returns to the hard shaft on its own. “Come with me.”

“Fuck, okay,” Tegoshi agrees, his hips moving double time as the familiar pressure accumulates inside him. “I’m gonna come so hard, oh my god.”

Shige howls as Tegoshi lets go, and a split-second of incoherence later, Tegoshi realizes he’d sunken his teeth into Shige’s neck. Shige’s body is still jolting, cock spurting in his hand as he comes all over Tegoshi’s sheets, and Tegoshi navigates back to the knot that hasn’t shrunk at all.

“Don’t stop,” Shige orders. Tegoshi doesn’t know whether he means biting or squeezing his knot, so he keeps doing both until Shige clarifies, “Not the neck, ow.”

“I’m sorry,” Tegoshi breathes, making up for it the best he can by pressing his lips along the indented area. “I’ve never done that before, so I didn’t know to warn you.”

“It’s okay,” Shige assures him, arching back into Tegoshi’s embrace once Tegoshi pulls out of him. “It was unexpected, but I liked it.”

“I get that a lot,” Tegoshi teases, and Shige just snorts.

“You know,” Shige begins, “when alphas would claim omegas back in the wolf days, they would lick the claim bite afterward to make it hurt less.”

Tegoshi laughs. “Nothing about you is subtle.”

“I’ve found that it’s more effective to be direct.”

The sheets are cold as Tegoshi flops onto his side, pulling Shige back against him as they both stretch out. He humors Shige by licking at the place he’d accidentally bitten, but Shige lets out this beautiful moan and Tegoshi does it seriously, his hand continuing to knead Shige’s knot until it finally starts to shrink.

“Looks like I’ll have to keep my hair long for a little while longer,” Shige comments, and even his voice sounds exhausted. “I’ll start a war if anyone sees that.”

“Sorry,” Tegoshi says again. “I really didn’t mean to.”

“I said it’s okay,” Shige tells him, flipping over to face him. “I like the idea of being claimed like this. Since you’re a beta, I’m not threatened at all.”

“I’m starting to think I was born this way just to satisfy your unorthodox tastes,” Tegoshi teases.

Shige shrugs, and Tegoshi’s affronted for the half a second it takes for Shige to lean in and capture his mouth, kissing him so deeply that he forgets everything but the person in his arms, whom he was just _inside_ , and nothing else matters.

They have to shower eventually, and Tegoshi’s sheets will definitely need to be changed, but he plans on slipping right back between them, and not alone.

“I like the way I am when I’m with you,” Shige tells him much later, when Tegoshi’s tucked in his arms and the summer breeze tickles their bare skin, and it’s better than any words of love.

*

Massu’s barely showing, but one would think he’s in his third trimester with the way everyone fusses over him. He’s not old enough to be a high-risk pregnancy, yet he’s restricted from dancing and working out and doing pretty much everything that makes him Massu— _except_ eating.

“I’m gonna be a whale,” he says excitedly as he tears into his third meat bun.

“Your clothes will finally fit properly,” Tegoshi tells him, grinning when Massu gives him a dramatic eyeroll fit for a teenage girl.

Meanwhile, Koyama is eyeing Shige like he expects him to alpha rage any second. Being as Shige’s calmly bopping to whatever’s playing on his earbuds while typing up his latest manifesto, nostrils free of plugs, Tegoshi doubts that is the case.

“Kei-chan?” Tegoshi calls out gently. “I keep telling you, KoyaShige telepathy isn’t real.”

“I’m just surprised that he’s okay,” Koyama replies. “I can smell Massu so strongly right now, and Shige doesn’t seem to be affected at all.”

“Ah, sorry,” Massu says sheepishly. “I didn’t have time to shower after sex this morning.”

Tegoshi blinks. “You still do it even though you’re already pregnant?”

“I do like to make love with my mate occasionally,” Massu says pointedly. “How often do you fuck people without conceiving? Don’t be stupid.”

“How often does he fuck _Shige_ without conceiving,” Koyama corrects, and Tegoshi laughs. “Maybe you’re the reason he’s not bothered by hotboxing ripe omega.”

“Maybe I am,” Tegoshi says evasively.

At that second, Shige reaches up to scratch his neck, and Koyama nearly falls out of his chair at a hint of deep purple behind his ear.

“No _fucking_ way,” Koyama exclaims, and Tegoshi’s not fast enough to grab his arm before he yanks back Shige’s hair.

“What the hell?” Shige sputters, pulling out his earbuds as he cringes from Koyama’s close proximity. “I told you, we’re not doing that anymore.”

“Like I would jump you at work,” Koyama scoffs. “What is this _mark_ on your neck, Shigeaki?”

“ _What_?” Massu exclaims, getting to his feet as fast as he can (which isn’t that fast) to see for himself. “Did you let Tegoshi _claim_ you?”

“Wasn’t it you who said that term was archaic?” Shige shoots back.

“It’s okay when it’s done to alphas,” Massu tells him, and Koyama smirks his agreement as they both peer at the mark. “Damn, Tegoshi,” Massu adds. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Me neither,” Tegoshi admits. “It just kind of happened.”

“That settles it,” Koyama declares, clapping his hands together like any other time he’s made a decision as group leader. “You two are officially mates.”

“ _No_ ,” Shige protests, at the same time Tegoshi squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Hey, I don’t make the rules,” Koyama tells them. “For what it’s worth, I love the idea of a beta claiming an alpha. Fuck status roles. Do what feels good for you.”

Tegoshi sighs, his eyes landing on Shige when he forces them open, and Shige’s wearing the same defeated face he has when the others make fun of him during a concert MC.

“I’m not courting you,” Shige finally says, meeting Tegoshi’s stare so strongly that Tegoshi skips a breath. “I want to be spoiled for once.”

A million thoughts fly through Tegoshi’s head, none of which are appropriate to speak aloud. “I’ll do my best,” he says firmly, terrified and excited at the same time.

“I’m so moved,” Massu chokes out, and Tegoshi thinks he’s being sarcastic until he actually cries. “I’m glad you two found each other after all of these years.”

Koyama flies across the room to hug him, the two omegas sobbing on each other like true stereotypes, and Tegoshi smiles until he notices Shige visibly twitching where he sits.

“You’re both suffocating me,” he whines. “Can’t you be emotional somewhere else?”

“Ooh,” Massu says suddenly, entirely ignoring Shige. “Koyama can be the surrogate for Baby TegoShige!”

Tegoshi’s about to speak out loud what’s creased between Shige’s eyebrows until Koyama pulls back and looks more sheepish than Tegoshi’s seen him in a long while.

“Actually, I kind of got back together with Tomohisa,” he says, and Tegoshi’s the one who squeals.

“That’s unsurprising,” Massu says. “You never could stay off his knot.”

Koyama covers his face and squirms, which has Tegoshi laughing as he joins in on the teasing. Then he notices Shige curled up in the fetal position and knocks over a chair to run over to him, pulling Shige’s face into his collarbone to diffuse whatever’s overwhelming him.

The cringing subsides, but he’s still shaking when his arms drop to Tegoshi’s waist, both hands grabbing onto his hips with purpose. “Yuuya?”

“Yeah?” Tegoshi replies softly.

“I’ve reached my breaking point.”

Tegoshi inhales sharply, breathing in nothing that’s undoubtedly permeating the air right now. “I can clear my schedule tonight, if you can hold out that long.”

Shige’s hair flies forward as he hangs his head, which has Tegoshi reaching up to gently thread his fingers through the soft locks, calming the alpha down as much as he can.

“This is my fault,” Koyama announces. “I get all flustered when I think about Tomo like that. Sorry, Shige.”

“I need to go _now_ ,” Shige tells them all in this authoritative tone that has Tegoshi shuddering.

“And you all thought it would be me who would have to reschedule meetings,” Massu says with a smug grin.

Tegoshi glances over at Koyama, ready to point out how many times he has had to abruptly leave work because of untimely heats, but the leader just waves him off.

“Take care of our alpha,” Koyama tells him.

Tegoshi nods and turns back to the person clinging to him desperately, wondering how to best go about getting him out of here. “Come on, Shige. We just have to make it to my car and you can do whatever you want to me. I have tinted windows.”

A sound that is half whine and half moan vibrates Tegoshi’s sternum, and Tegoshi manages to get Shige to his feet without either of them losing their balance.

“This is so satisfying to watch,” Massu says, and Tegoshi glares at him in time to see Koyama nod his agreement.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying my misery,” Shige grumbles as he doesn’t actually let go of Tegoshi while they make their way out of the room. “I’ll remember this the next time one of you goes into heat.”

“If you don’t rut Tegoshi into the ground first,” Massu calls after them.

Naturally, the hallway is not empty, but it’s only KAT-TUN returning from the bathroom together. Tegoshi finds some sense of justice in Nakamaru immediately crashing into the wall from whatever scent Shige is undoubtedly projecting, but Kame and Ueda seem more concerned about Shige than their fallen omega.

“We’ll walk you out,” Kame says, and Tegoshi’s about to protest until Shige breathes in more deeply from the added betas. “Ueda, sound the alarm.”

Tegoshi looks around for some kind of special lever until Ueda screams at the top of his lungs, “Everyone stay in your rooms! Alpha down!”

“This is so embarrassing,” Shige mutters as he halfway piggybacks on Tegoshi with Kame and Ueda flanked on either side.

“It’s fine,” Kame tells him. “We did this for Yokoyama last week.”

“They had to scent-proof Kanjani’s room after Ryo left,” Ueda tells them. “Poor Tacchon can’t keep up with all the alphas on his own.”

“Try as he might,” Kame adds with a snicker.

“Good thing Arashi isn’t working today,” Ueda points out. “That alpha storm was brutal.”

“Taguchi would be proud of that pun,” Kame tells him, and Ueda grins.

Tegoshi tunes them out, comforting Shige as much as he can from in front of him. The hallway hasn’t seemed this long any other time he’s walked it, but it feels like ages before they reach the stairwell that leads to the parking garage.

“We can’t stay here,” Shige gasps into Tegoshi’s neck, giving him a full-body chill. “I’ll set off any alpha who walks into this garage for the rest of the day and probably send all the omegas into heat, suppressants or not. It’s _never_ been this bad, fuck.”

“Take him to his place,” Kame instructs, and Tegoshi just nods. “His neighbors will be used to his scent. Yours won’t.”

“This is so complicated,” Tegoshi thinks out loud as he unlocks his passenger door for Shige. “I haven’t had to think about these things before.”

Ueda clicks his tongue. “If you’re gonna mate with an alpha, you better learn how to take care of him!”

“I’m not—” Tegoshi starts, then Shige flattens him against the car, grinding into his hip. “Okay, let’s go.”

“We’ll hang out here for a few minutes to clear the air after you leave,” Kame tells him. “Then we should probably check on Yuichi.”

“Eh, he’ll be fine,” Ueda says dismissively. “He’s probably with Masuda and Koyama, deep-cleaning the alpha off of him.”

Tegoshi ignores them and begins the very difficult task of prying Shige away from him enough to get him in the car. It would be comical if it wasn’t happening _to_ him, if his own body wasn’t on fire from how badly Shige wants him— _needs_ him, even. He’ll do well enough to make it to Shige’s place without pulling over and mounting Shige right in the passenger seat, nearby alphas be damned.

It’s mildly easier once they’re in the car, separated enough to function. Kame and Ueda wave brightly as Tegoshi backs out of his parking space, purposely not looking toward Shige so he won’t get distracted while driving.

When he does finally glance over, it’s not much different than when Massu was going into heat before. Shige’s sweating and breathing just as hard, though his pants aren’t nearly as big as Massu’s to hide the obvious bulge.

Tegoshi’s car beeps at him for veering too close to the shoulder, and he quickly looks back to the road, keeping his eyes forward for the rest of the ride.

“Why are you going this way?” Shige asks, his voice flat and gruff. “I live on the other side of the city.”

“Oh, right, you moved,” Tegoshi says, cursing under his breath as he looks for a place to turn around. “I don’t know where it is then. Put the address into my GPS.”

Shige heaves a sigh like it’s so hard to sit up, though it’s followed by a much more pleasant noise as his jeans rub him the right way. “Hurry.”

“I’ll drive as fast as I can,” Tegoshi promises, and Shige flops back into the passenger seat, flinging his arm over his eyes like if he can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.

Tegoshi white-knuckles the steering wheel as the GPS directs him to the parking lot of Shige’s building, where Shige navigates him into his own parking spot that won’t be used with his car still at the jimusho.

“At least it’s the middle of the day,” Shige says as he makes his way out of the car. “Nobody’s home to see me do the walk of shame.”

Tegoshi gets in front of him again, his senses heightening back to where they were before as Shige latches onto him. Hissed directions into his ear take him even higher, and by the time the make it through Shige’s front door, Tegoshi’s the one who turns around and pulls Shige up against him.

They fall to the floor, Shige kicking the door closed behind him as he releases the last of his restraint and really does rut Tegoshi into the ground. Tegoshi loves it, his thighs falling open to feel Shige right against him, moaning out loud from the friction.

When Shige lets him up for air, Tegoshi takes the opportunity to pull as much of their clothes off as he can manage before Shige fuses them together again. Tegoshi can’t think with their tongues swirling around each other like this, his hands moving on autopilot as he feels the cool sweat that’s practically sizzling on Shige’s hot skin.

“Are you gonna knot me?” Tegoshi asks when Shige relocates his mouth to Tegoshi’s neck, making Tegoshi arch beneath him.

“Do you want me to knot you?” Shige counter-asks, the depth of his voice going straight between Tegoshi’s legs where Shige hasn’t stopped rubbing against him.

“I want you to do whatever you need to do to feel good,” Tegoshi tells him, and Shige loops his arms around Tegoshi’s shoulder in a tight hug.

“This is enough, honestly,” Shige says, thrusting a little harder now that their jeans are out of the way. “If you can reach, I’d really like your fingers inside me.”

“I think I can reach.” Tegoshi lowers his hand to Shige’s hip and around to his backside. “Maybe if you lift your knees a bit?”

Shige responds by straddling him completely, and Tegoshi realizes too late that he doesn’t have anything with him.

“You don’t happen to keep lube in the genkan, do you?”

“Give me your hand,” Shige rasps, and Tegoshi obliges without knowing why until he feels Shige sucking his fingers in and out of his mouth.

“Will this be enough?” he worries out loud, though it’s hard to get the words out as his eyes roll back into his head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“If it’s just your fingers, it’s fine,” Shige says, interrupting his licking long enough to speak, and Tegoshi moans like Shige’s got his tongue somewhere else. “You sure like this a lot.”

“Huh?” Tegoshi asks blankly.

“Or are you thinking of me doing this to your dick?” Shige goes on, and Tegoshi moans again because this fucking guy is talking dirty while rutting him into the ground and it’s the hottest thing Tegoshi’s ever experienced. “If you do this for me, I’ll do that for you.”

He shoves Tegoshi’s wet fingers back toward him, and Tegoshi is confused for the half a second it takes for him to remember what he’s supposed to be doing with them.

“Okay,” is all he says, because he’d agree to anything right now.

Shige had only made it halfway out of his pants, but it’s enough for Tegoshi to get to where he needs to go, accepting Shige back into his mouth when he reaches the little hole, stretched taut with his knees up above Tegoshi’s waist. Shige’s whimpers are even better when they’re dying on Tegoshi’s tongue, the pair of them kissing so hard that Tegoshi’s not paying attention to how two of his fingers wedge their way inside Shige with only saliva to ease them in.

If Shige’s groan is any indication, it’s not too much, and Tegoshi curls them and taps around until he finds the spongy spot that has Shige jerking on top of him. “Can I make you come like this?”

Instead of answering, Shige shakily grabs Tegoshi’s other hand and puts it on his knot. It’s already swollen, probably has been for a long time, and the moan Shige lets out when Tegoshi squeezes it roughly like before resounds in his head. He creates a rhythm with one hand massaging Shige’s prostate while the other pulls off his knot, playing him like an instrument until he harshly breaks their kiss to cry out in pleasure.

“Come for me, Shige,” Tegoshi whispers, pressing his lips to Shige’s temple as the alpha starts to fall apart. “Rut it out, come on.”

Tegoshi almost loses his grip when Shige’s primal instinct takes over, growling from deep in his lungs as he rocks back and forth with a strength Tegoshi hasn’t seen from him before. It’s almost scary, because Tegoshi most definitely could not get out of this if he wanted to, but he doesn’t want to. He’s right where he wants to be, taking care of Shige the way only he can, his own arousal soaring the closer Shige gets to his peak.

Shige gets louder and Tegoshi goes faster, until finally Shige’s entire body shudders and he comes on Tegoshi’s belly. He doesn’t slow down, though he whines enough for Tegoshi to remove his hands completely, watching in awe as something like inertia keeps Shige going when he clearly wants to stop.

“What do I do?” Tegoshi asks, now completely alert and concerned at how to take care of Shige like this. “Are you done?”

“For now,” Shige tells him, physically halting himself with his hands on either side of Tegoshi. “I haven’t done this in a really long time, so it’ll flare up again in a little bit.”

“When that happens, I’ll be here,” Tegoshi tells him, and Shige smiles for the first time since Koyama had set him off. “That was _wild_ _._ _”_

Shige makes a noncommittal noise as he pushes himself further back, out of Tegoshi’s view. Tegoshi doesn’t think anything of it until he feels breath between his legs, then cool air as Shige shoves down his boxers.

“ _Shige_ ,” Tegoshi moans, his clean hand instantly sinking into Shige’s long, thick hair. “I’m not gonna last very long.”

“Better for my jaw,” Shige replies, and Tegoshi laughs until his length in encased in wet heat.

Shige doesn’t tease him, swallowing the entire length in one go, and Tegoshi can’t catch his breath before it’s stolen again. His body rocks on its own, thrusting further down Shige’s throat while his hand twists in Shige’s hair, and he cries out when Shige’s moan vibrates his sensitive flesh.

“Oh my god,” he gets out, slamming his other hand on the bed until Shige reaches for it and laces their fingers together again. “ _Fuck_ , it’s so good.”

Shige’s pleased noise has Tegoshi squirming even more, arching clear off the bed as his head digs into the mattress. He’s so hard and Shige’s mouth is so hot, tension coiling in his belly as he starts to shake from the force of it all.

“I’m gonna come,” he breathes out, and Shige licks the head of his cock to push him over the edge.

He tightens both sets of fingers as his orgasm is sucked out of him, shuddering at the continued flicking of Shige’s tongue until Tegoshi tugs on his hair to stop him. His heart is pounding between his ears and his breath seems to have ran away from him, but he still grins when Shige crawls back up his body and presses a chaste kiss to his lips, beaming at him like a puppy waiting to be praised.

“That was amazing,” Tegoshi tells him, and Shige nuzzles his face happily. “I can’t even think right now.”

Shige just hums happily, curling his body around Tegoshi’s as much as he can, so close that Tegoshi doesn’t know where he ends and Tegoshi begins.

“It honestly wasn’t that bad,” Tegoshi says, and Shige makes an quizzical noise. “Your rut, I mean. I expected you to just ram into me without any pretext, but you could hold a conversation and everything.”

“That’s because you’re a beta,” Shige tells him. “When I rut with omegas or even other alphas, my senses are so clogged from our combined scents that I don’t know _what_ I’m doing until it’s happening. It’s so fucking terrifying to be a spectator in my own body like that.”

“Sounds like the plot of a horror movie,” Tegoshi comments.

“But with you, it’s okay,” Shige goes on, and Tegoshi hugs him tighter. “I can still make active decisions and check for consent. If you had told me no, I could have actually stopped, and that makes me so happy. I don’t hate being an alpha when I’m with you. I kinda like it.”

“I like it too,” Tegoshi says, leaning over to kiss him. In doing so, he feels the firmness of a knot that hasn’t even begun to shrink press against his thigh. “Again?”

“Yuuya, I’m in rut,” Shige tells him, easily crawling back on top of Tegoshi’s pliant body. “I’ll probably come three more times before this is over.”

Tegoshi grins as he reaches down to squeeze the knot just how Shige likes it, his own pride swelling at how Shige trembles on top of him.

“Challenge accepted.”

*

Baby NakaMasu comes in the dead of winter. Tegoshi’s asleep when he gets the call, but Shige wakes them both up and drags them to the hospital, where Koyama’s already fretting and Yamapi greets Shige with what looks like a tengu mask.

“It looks stupid, but it really works,” Yamapi tells him as he adjusts his own mask over his nose. “It’s the only way we’ll be allowed in the delivery area.”

Shige’s tired enough to just put it on, following the newly mated couple with Tegoshi close behind. “At least _somebody_ invented something for us to be comfortable,” he mutters.

The omegas still glare at them, including Akanishi and Ryo. Tegoshi distracts those two by running up for a hug, momentarily forgetting that he’s supposed to be holding a grudge against Akanishi for something that happened ten years ago. He’s happy to see Ryo anyway, even if Ryo shoves him right back toward Shige after a tight squeeze.

“He needs you more than I do,” Ryo tells him, then looks confused when Tegoshi grins.

“Oh, I know,” Tegoshi says, and Akanishi laughs as he figures it out first.

“You look like an elephant,” Akanishi hollers across the room to Yamapi, who makes what he probably thinks are elephant noises and moves his arm like a trunk.

“I apologize for them,” Kamenashi says seriously, with the air of someone who says those words a _lot_. “I was hanging out with these idiots when Nakamaru called, and, well. Here we _all_ are.”

“Not all of us,” Ueda says quietly, and Akanishi awkwardly pats his shoulder.

Tegoshi leaves KAT-TUN to their angst and returns to his sleepy elephant. “How is Massu?”

“He’s in labor,” Koyama replies. “I keep hearing him scream, and it makes me sad. Nakamaru-kun is in there with him, which is nice. Usually, the other parent can’t be in the room.”

“Even with an elephant mask?” Yamapi asks, and Koyama shakes his head. “Oh, well. Maybe someday. I’m just happy to be here!”

The nurses’ scowls soften a bit at the pretty alpha’s bright tone, and Tegoshi remembers why he used to idolize that one so much.

“What’s your alpha scent?” Tegoshi asks Yamapi.

“Cotton candy and dreams,” Yamapi answers, and Shige snorts.

“Stupid,” Koyama chides, the grin not leaving his face even when Yamapi sneaks his mask up long enough for a quick kiss.

Massu’s mother doesn’t look at all surprised to see a mass of idols congregating in the waiting room, earning everyone’s attention by flashing a smile identical to her son’s. “It’s a beta!”

“Yes!” Tegoshi exclaims, pumping his fists as he runs over to high-five with Kame and Ueda. “One of us!”

“Thank god,” Shige says under his breath. “I don’t know what those two would do with a little alpha.”

“Raise them to be one of the good ones,” Koyama says pointedly, and Shige gives him a sad smile.

“Can two omegas even make an alpha?” Kame muses out loud. “I know betas are a recessive gene, but alphas are usually dominant...hmm.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Akanishi says, but Kame doesn’t seem to notice, lost in his thoughts about genetic biology.

Tegoshi manages to become second in line to see the baby after Koyama, though they make him stay in the room while Shige and Yamapi go in separately. The little bundle in Massu’s arms looks exactly like him, just with Nakamaru’s nose, though their lungs rival Tegoshi’s until the nurse brings them a bottle.

“You look ridiculous,” Massu tells Shige, laughing so hard at the mask that he cringes from the leftover pain of childbirth. “But I’m glad you can be in here.”

“Me too,” Shige says, reaching out to squeeze Massu’s hand. “I actually think my hormones have calmed down since I’ve been with Tegoshi.”

Massu nods and turns toward Tegoshi. “You actually fucked the alpha out of him. Good job.”

“Thanks,” Tegoshi replies, fist-pounding with the hand that Massu’s not currently using to feed his child while Shige just sighs.

“I thought you smelled different,” Nakamaru speaks up, peering at Shige from next to Massu. “Not nearly as threatening. It’s nice.”

Shige looks down like he’s really touched by those words, and Tegoshi leaves him to his feelings as he reaches out to the baby with grabby hands. “Can I hold them?”

“Yeah, but be careful,” Massu warns him, gently transferring the tiny person into Tegoshi’s arms.

Tegoshi makes faces at them as he rocks them from side to side, swaying toward Shige so Shige can see them too. Shige fakes a pout, carefully lifting his hand to stroke the tufts of dark hair on the baby’s head, and Tegoshi can _feel_ both Nakamaru and Massu’s eyes watching them like a pair of hawks.

“It’s okay, they’re a beta,” Tegoshi tells the new parents. “Shige won’t scare them. Nobody will. They will grow up blissfully oblivious to this pheromone-saturated world you all live in, just like I did. How lucky!”

Right then, Nakamaru and Massu look at each other like they had just realized something, and Tegoshi tilts his head curiously until Massu gives him the most grateful expression he’s seen from that one since they were kids.

“That’s it!” he exclaims. “We’ve been wracking our brains thinking of what to name them, and there it is. They will be Lucky.”

“They certainly will,” Tegoshi says, beaming at the baby who lets out a cry as if on cue. “Ah, Lucky-chan! You just ate, right? Let’s get those gas bubbles out.”

“You’re pretty good at that,” Nakamaru comments as Tegoshi carefully turns Lucky upright to burp them. “Thinking about having one of your own?”

Shige chokes on his next breath, but Tegoshi just laughs. “Nah, I’ll just play with yours. I have to be a role model, right? I’ll teach them how to be a good beta!”

“Kame and Ueda are betas too,” Nakamaru points out, but Tegoshi ignores him.

A few moments later, Shige leaves so Yamapi can come in, and Lucky falls asleep the instant they curl against Yamapi’s chest. Tegoshi laughs while Massu cries happily because he’s still incredibly hormonal, and Tegoshi takes the opportunity to hop up on Massu’s delivery bed and get some rare cuddles.

“I cannot _wait_ to get back on my suppressants,” Massu whines, dropping his head on Tegoshi’s shoulder in defeat. “I may take one tonight.”

“You worked hard,” Tegoshi tells him, and Massu nods his agreement. “We all did.”

That has Massu scoffing, but Yamapi distracts him from replying by returning his child. “Thanks for allowing me in here,” Yamapi says seriously. “I couldn’t even see Jin’s kids until they went home.”

“That wasn’t the hospital’s policy, it was Meisa-san’s,” Nakamaru points out. “She’s the scariest alpha I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah, she is,” Yamapi agrees, visibly shuddering at the thought. “I’ll let the others come in now. Congrats again, NakaMasu!”

“Thanks,” they reply, Nakamaru pointedly shoving Tegoshi away from Massu until he’s falling off the bed.

“Okay, I’m going,” Tegoshi says, making one last dramatic face at Lucky before following Yamapi out. “I hope Shige’s okay. We left him in a room full of omegas.”

What Shige is, is sleeping, conked out on a pile of coats with his silly alpha mask on. Tegoshi watches him quietly for a bit, appreciating the rare sight of Shige completely relaxed, comfortable enough to let his guard down even with Ryo sitting a few seats away.

“Congratulations to you too,” Yamapi’s voice drawls from behind Tegoshi, an arm slinging around his shoulder as he naturally gravitates into the side hug. “You smell good on him.”

Tegoshi just grins, preening up at his old leader before returning to his current one. Koyama’s much calmer now that Massu’s not in pain, though he’s only snuggly until Yamapi returns from being stupid with Akanishi. Rejected again, Tegoshi returns to Shige, who’s still dead to the world even when Tegoshi lifts his head enough to sit under it.

His fingers go right for Shige’s hair, stroking it gently from the scalp to the ends, and he feels mildly guilty when Shige makes a sound that he probably wouldn’t want to make too loudly in front of all of their colleagues. It’s not enough for Tegoshi to stop, of course, and he expects one of the many omegas in the room to reprimand him for unleashing the alpha, but no one notices.

Well, not no one. Shige visibly twitches, then turns enough to curl his knees to his chest, and Tegoshi really does stop when Shige digs the back of his head between Tegoshi’s legs, way too hard to be accidental.

“ _Why_ are you riling me up _here_?” Shige whines, glaring up at him under very hooded eyes as he pushes himself up enough to slump against Tegoshi’s side.

“I’m sorry,” Tegoshi says quickly. “I just like touching your hair. Do we need to leave?”

“It’s not a _need_ ,” Shige answers, his smile looking out of place as he lifts a hand to cradle Tegoshi’s jaw. “It’s a _want_ , and I love that I can make that distinction now.”

“I love _you_ ,” Tegoshi says out loud.

Shige smiles as much as he can with the mask on. “I love you too.”

“Get a room,” Ryo barks, and Shige kicks him while Tegoshi just laughs.


End file.
